Romney dusts off Jobs Council attack

11/2/12 6:25 PM EDT

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney went after President Barack Obama on Friday for long-term neglect of his jobs council, dusting off an attack Romney mounted aggressively in July but later largely dropped from his campaign rhetoric.

Obama "put together a jobs council. These were people he picked from industries around the country. He brought them in to give him advice as to how to create jobs. Do you know how long it’s been since he met with the jobs council? Nine months! Can you imagine that? Nine months!" Romney said during a stop at a mining equipment factory in Etna, Ohio. "Let me tell you: well, first of all, I like business and I’m going to have a lot of people offering advice but I know a good deal about it myself to begin with. And that’ll help being president.”

POLITICO reported in July that the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness had not held an official meeting in six months and had not met with Obama during that time. Following the report, both Romney and the Republican Party unleashed a fusillade of attacks on Obama, arguing that his apparent neglect of the panel was symbolic of his failure to craft policies to spur job creation.

However, Romney hasn't said much, if anything, about the Jobs Council since. It was not mentioned in any of his three debates with Obama. The GOP candidate may have dialed back the criticism because some who served on the panel are Republicans or conservatives and an attack on Obama for not meeting with the panel is hard to distinguish with an attack on the panel itself for failing to meet. (One prominent Jobs Council member, Intel CEO Paul Otellini, endorsed Romney earlier this week.)

A White House spokesman suggested in July that Obama had been too busy to meet with the panel in recent months, saying the president had "a lot on his plate." However, sources familiar with the council said an in-person meeting was likely being avoided because the business leaders on the panel felt awkward appearing with Obama in the midst of a presidential election. Rifts had also developed between the CEOs and the few labor leaders in the group.

In a follow-up story in August, POLITICO noted that the council has held monthly, private telephone calls to discuss its recommendations with Obama Administration officials—a practice which disturbs transparency advocates. The last event of any kind noted on the Council's website was in June.

White House officials say the panel's recommendations have been in large part adopted by the administration, though some require action by Congress. However, Romney is correct that the last official council meeting was more than nine months ago, on Jan. 17, 2012.

The Obama campaign did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Romney's renewed critique.